Yeah, you might be over estimating his value. But as I said in other comments here, it’s not an unthinkable thought. More on this come Monday.

Tim

It seems to me that a playmaker on both sides of the court like Diamantidis would really fit well as a filler for Manu in the event of further injury. From the video (obviously a limited perspective) it didn’t seem that he was able to create his own shot, but his defensive prowess and ability to run an offense while still being a threat from 3 would have been fantastic v Barea and Kidd while his size would provide an option against the J-Howard’s of the world. I think it would be a great pickup. It would allow us to ditch Vaughn, get the same 3-ball w/better defense than Finley and provide the same defensive utility as Bowen with more consistent offense. Am I making this guy to sound too good?

The Greek players are loyal to the Euroleague. And after what happened with V-Span…

I don’t know one way or another about Diamantidis’ feelings toward the NBA. I tend to agree with you regarding the Spurs offseason plans–big and wing. Remember, I wrote this post as a Final Four preview for Spurs fans. That is, I wanted to say that there is reason for them to watch besides the entertainment factor. As I said in the post, my introduction of Diamantidis and Bouroussis was conjecture based on players who are contractually available, the Spurs roster, history, etc… For example, Siskaukas’ name has been tied to the Spurs in the past, but I didn’t mention because he seems, based upon the criteria above, like an impossibility this offseason.

My guess is that the Spurs are scouting the junior tournament more closely than the Final Four. Almost all the guys in the Final Four are known quantaties. The juniors are still emerging.

Regarding Bouroussis: he looks too slow for the Association; I’m not sure he could do anything other than foul on defense if he came to the NBA. I can see the Spurs looking at him because he’s good in the pick and roll and can shoot, but ultimately I wouldn’t expect anything there either.

Watching yesterday’s games, Pekovic and Papaloukas look like the cream of the crop. Siskauskas looks excellent too. But in the case of the latter two, I don’t think they’ll ever make the jump. Those ships have already sailed.

I think the Spurs will primarily target a second best big man to get Duncan some help in the paint, and secondarily look for some help on the wing.

I know Popovich dropped Hill from the rotation for the playoffs, but I think Hill has shown enough to convince Pop that he’ll be able to handle the job next season.

I don’t watch European basketball but I hear a lot of good things about Bouroussis. A lot of people think he’d be a good NBA player.

Diamantidis? Nobody doubts his talent, but I thought he wasn’t interested in joining the NBA?

The Spurs played Hill mostly at shooting guard–and even small forward–for the back half of the year. In the playoffs, he played a lot of shooting guard. Roger Mason Jr. was used largely at point over the back half. In one of Jeff McDonald’s end of the year pieces, he said the Spurs are hoping Mason Jr. will be more comfortable at point next season, having now spent some time in the system. I don’t necessarily like how that math computes, but, at least right now, it looks things are going in that direction. We’ll know more during summer league–what position will the Spurs have Hill at? This is one of those situations when I’m paying close attention to what is happening vs. what I think should happen. Until about a week ago I assumed the Spurs would simply move Hill back to point guard…

Regarding Diamantidis: he’s a superstar in Europe, but he’d be about average in the NBA. He’s no more than a staple rotation guy, and he’s a little older. But the 3 things he does really well would fit like a glove in San Antonio. He is a smart, low turnover point. He is a terrific 3 point shooting floor spacer. He can guard 3 positions. The fact that he is 6′5” at point is important too. We just saw in the NO/Den series that Chris Paul can bothered by physically imposing defenders. He’d help against Williams, Farmar, Kidd and Billups. Having him and Hill available for backcourt minutes would really improve the team’s overall defense.

Don’t hear me as lobbying for the guy. I’m not. But I could see the Spurs being interested in him. That’s all.

However, in an alternate universe where all of our decisions are made to keep Finley happy, then a weird reverse-logic appears. If we try to find another SF then Finley wouldn’t get his minutes, so, yes, clearly, point guard should be our focus, despite the fact that we have one of the top point guards in the league.